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You may have read it before. I've seen it several times making the rounds. And I laugh each time. One source says it's written by William Schreyer. Here it is:

It seems there was a pretzel stand out front of an office building in New York. One day a man came out of the building, planted down a quarter, and then went on his way without taking a pretzel. This happened every day for three weeks. Finally, the old lady running the stand spoke up: "Sir, excuse me. May I have a word with you?" The fellow said: "I know what you're going to say. You're going to ask me why I give you a quarter every day and don't take a pretzel." And the woman said, "Not at all. I just want to tell you the price is now 35 cents."

First thought? What an ingrate! Not only is the vendor not interested in the man, she's looking to make an extra 10 cents.

"In everything give thanks, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

I had meant to type that I wrote tongue in cheek, where said organ seems to reside. My hurried fingers missed a brain impulse and hit the keyboard wrong, resulting in "tongue in check." I had to stop and study that one. If not a Freudian slip, perhaps a Divine Signal? Well, perhaps I'm seeing signs that were never meant, but no doubt there was a lesson.

Is it not better to have the tongue in check than the tongue in cheek?

"When words are many, sin is not absent,
but he who holds his tongue is wise."
--Proverbs 10:19, NIV

"It is quite true that the Greek word comes from two roots which mean literally 'called out.' Many preachers have made use of this fact to point out helpful spiritual implications, and yet by New Testament times the word carried no such denotation as 'called out.' It was simply the word for 'assembly' or 'congregation.' It so happened that in the Greek city-states an assembly of the citizenry resulted from the people being called out of their city and summoned from their farms to participate in such gatherings. Even though the etymology of the word remains, its real meaning is just 'assembly,' and a Greek-speaking person of New Testament times would be no more inclined to understand ekklesia in its original etymological value of 'called out' than we today would recognize 'God be with you' in 'good-by,' which, as we may learn from the dictionary, was derived from the longer phrase." —Eugene A. Nida, God's Word in Man's Language [1952]

I was reading Alan Bryan's book, Climb Happiness Hill, for the umpteenth time. One of those phrases jumped out at me. Now it may not sound like much to you, depending on where you are in your walk, but it was a great thought for me. He said,

"If you are not happy, in some way you are violating some of God's laws."

That's it. Nothing fancy, but a powerful word.

His thought might cause us to do some serious soul searching and study of what law(s) we're violating.

I hope you are deliriously happy and ready for the New Year.